WE'RE RELUCTANT to return to the subject of former CIA employee Valerie Plame because of our oft-stated belief that far too much attention and debate in Washington has been devoted to her story and that of her husband, former ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV, over the past three years. But all those who have opined on this affair ought to take note of the not-so-surprising disclosure that the primary source of the newspaper column in which Ms. Plame's cover as an agent was purportedly blown in 2003 was former deputy secretary of state Richard L. Armitage.

Mr. Armitage was one of the Bush administration officials who supported the invasion of Iraq only reluctantly. He was a political rival of the White House and Pentagon officials who championed the war and whom Mr. Wilson accused of twisting intelligence about Iraq and then plotting to destroy him. Unaware that Ms. Plame's identity was classified information, Mr. Armitage reportedly passed it along to columnist Robert D. Novak "in an offhand manner, virtually as gossip," according to a story this week by the Post's R. Jeffrey

Smith, who quoted a former colleague of Mr. Armitage.

It follows that one of the most sensational charges leveled against the Bush White House -- that it orchestrated the leak of Ms. Plame's identity to ruin her career and thus punish Mr. Wilson -- is untrue......

Nevertheless, it now appears that the person most responsible for the end of Ms. Plame's CIA career is Mr. Wilson. Mr. Wilson chose to go public with an explosive charge, claiming -- falsely, as it turned out -- that he had debunked reports of Iraqi uranium-shopping in Niger and that his report had circulated to senior administration officials. He ought to have expected that both those officials and journalists such as Mr. Novak would ask why a retired ambassador would have been sent on such a mission and that the answer would point to his wife. He diverted responsibility from himself and his false charges by claiming that President Bush's closest aides had engaged in an illegal conspiracy. It's unfortunate that so many people took him seriously.

WE'RE RELUCTANT to return to the subject of former CIA employee Valerie Plame because of our oft-stated belief that far too much attention and debate in Washington has been devoted to her story and that of her husband

I see they still have to get their parting shots in at Cheney and Libby, though it's nice to see Wilson finally baring the brunt of it. What goes around comes around. Wonder if Libby has any legal moves he can make on this now.

Would have been nice if the Post ended its editorial with: "We regret the role the Post has had in pushing this story and in the damage it has done to Mr. Libby's career and reputation. We urge the special prosecutor to drop all criminal charges against Mr. Libby."

WE'RE RELUCTANT to return to the subject of former CIA employee Valerie Plame because of our oft-stated belief that far too much attention and debate in Washington has been devoted to her story and that of her husband,

A more glorious act of journalistic hypocrisy I have yet to witness.

13
posted on 08/31/2006 10:19:28 PM PDT
by Carry_Okie
(Angelides v. Schwarzenegger is like deciding between ebola and cancer, respectively.)

It follows that one of the most sensational charges leveled against the Bush White House -- that it orchestrated the leak of Ms. Plame's identity to ruin her career and thus punish Mr. Wilson -- is untrue.

Mr. Wilson chose to go public with an explosive charge, claiming -- falsely, as it turned out -- that he had debunked reports of Iraqi uranium-shopping in Niger and that his report had circulated to senior administration officials. He ought to have expected that both those officials and journalists such as Mr. Novak would ask why a retired ambassador would have been sent on such a mission and that the answer would point to his wife.

He diverted responsibility from himself and his false charges by claiming that President Bush's closest aides had engaged in an illegal conspiracy. It's unfortunate that so many people took him seriously.

BTT. That last paragraph was pure dynamite. Mr. Wilson will now be relegated to the likes of The Village Voice and Vanity Fair and even less reputable rags such as the NY Times. As long as he resides in a comfortably liberal city where reality is very slow to sink in he'll do just fine.

It follows that one of the most sensational charges leveled against the Bush White House -- that it orchestrated the leak of Ms. Plame's identity to ruin her career and thus punish Mr. Wilson -- is untrue. The partisan clamor that followed the raising of that allegation by Mr. Wilson in the summer of 2003 led to the appointment of a special prosecutor, a costly and prolonged investigation, and the indictment of Vice President Cheney's chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, on charges of perjury. All of that might have been avoided had Mr. Armitage's identity been known three years ago."

Help me out.

I'd like to get the quotes from Democrats making the false allegations against Rove et al. We need to make Democrats eat a big plate of crow here. They deserve it.

"BTT. That last paragraph was pure dynamite. Mr. Wilson will now be relegated to the likes of The Village Voice and Vanity Fair and even less reputable rags such as the NY Times. As long as he resides in a comfortably liberal city where reality is very slow to sink in he'll do just fine."

Alger Hiss was Soviet spy and a traitor to this country. To people with a brain he was discredited by Whittaker Chambers in the Hiss-Chambers case in the lat 1940s.

To Liberals he remained a hero until his death, and only when KGB fiels confirmed he was a spy for Stalin, 50 years later, did the hard-core believers relent.

because of our oft-stated belief that far too much attention and debate in Washington has been devoted to her story and that of her husband, former ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV, over the past three years.

How many trees lost their lives for Joe and Val? How many did the WAPO cut down?

Game, set and match, as to team Bush attempting to deflect and marginalize, its critics, on this matter, but Scooter is still in trouble on perjury charges, which have nothing to do with who leaked what, when, and whether it was illegal. It appears the leak was not illegal, and Scooter leaked "late." Scooter it appears to me had poor legal advice, or no legal advice, before he testified, for a host of reasons. I could more into that, but I am going to bed, instead.

The bottom line, is one should not lie under oath, ever, and rarely otherwise, unless a "white" lie. That is hard core wiring with me. I don't give much slack to liars. That is something I have learned over time. Just tell the truth, and let it all hang out. It does a body good.

According to Byron York (National Review), Joe and Valerie are STILL going forward w/their court case against Rove, Cheney, and Libby....Their lawyer said Armitage was just 'gossiping' and isn't included in the 'conspiracy' against them.

If they had the capacity for SHAME, they would become hermits. However, we can expect another op-ed in the NYT from Joe any day now.

Armitage, Powell, and Fitzgerald are still silent about their own perfidy.

34
posted on 08/31/2006 10:32:35 PM PDT
by Carolinamom
(This is no time to go wobbly. - Lady Margaret Thatcher)

And I'm waiting to hear of the sanctions that the Washington Post is going to take against their reporters who falsely reported aspects of this story and fanned the flames... I'm waiting... I'm still waiting... Still waiting...

40
posted on 08/31/2006 10:38:34 PM PDT
by The Electrician
("Government is the only enterprise in the world which expands in size when its failures increase.")

And that's why they buried the lead in the last graph. This story is a classic example of telling the truth in a way that won't attract the attention of an average reader who scans the headline and maybe the first 2 or 3 graphs.

Hmm...you might be right. If their civil suit doesn't get any traction John and Vanna may well be relegated to "non-person" status within The Party. Wait, that wasn't right - Jerry and Veronica? Jack and Victoria? Throw me a bone here...

I can't get around the fact of why would Libby lie? There was no reason to lie since Plame was just your ordinary CIA employee desk jockey. He could have said to anyone that Yeah, Plame works for the CIA and she's the wife of Joe Wilson -- and still Fitzgerald would have no case against Libby.

I do note that after reading the article that they do find reason to continue the lie in that "Mr. Armitage was unaware that Ms. Plame was covert" and that even though Mr. Armitage was a reluctant "supporter" of the Iraq war but was at odds with those in the Administration who supported it, they continue to insist that even though no one in the Bush inner circle did anything at all wrong, all of this could have been avoided had the President listened to him rather than Cheney, Rumsfeld, et al.

After signaling that "we just need to move on", proceeded to bury the story on A20.

It follows that one of the most sensational charges leveled against the Bush White House -- that it orchestrated the leak of Ms. Plame's identity to ruin her career and thus punish Mr. Wilson -- is untrue.

Hell froze over?!?!?

I wonder...has anyone told Fidel to pack his ice skates?!?

47
posted on 08/31/2006 10:43:46 PM PDT
by top 2 toe red
(To the enemy in Iraq..."Don't bet on American politics forcing my hand!" President Bush)

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